Today’s Walk to Church comes to us from Elizabeth, Erin’s dear friend, who lives in Arlington, VA.
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My husband and I, pre-children, actually chose our first church based on its proximity to our house, and our ability to walk to it. We were unhappy in our faith there for several years, and then, through lucky happenstance (or blessing) we stumbled upon our current church. Luckily, it is located just across the street from our former one, so it is still very walkable. Our children (1 and 3) love it as much as we do, although when we have to walk past our old church when they are very tired at the end of our mile or so walk . . . they sometimes ask if we can just go there. The children cherish the walk to church, and I love the exercise as I muddle through my third pregnancy. We have many favorite stops along the way: the fish pond that one man keeps, the brick wall that my children can walk on, the tree with the extra-large leaves. It takes us an hour, as opposed to a 6-minute car ride, but . . . these are the memories we’ll keep forever. Our new church home, Bethel United Church of Christ, is so welcoming and lovely that we are always very relieved to arrive. The walk used to be the most renewing and inspiring part of our Sunday mornings, but now it is just a lovely beginning to a faith-filled day.
Elizabeth, thank you so much for sending us these pictures and letting us enjoy a little slice of your weekly walk. Seeing these pictures reminds me of a story I’ve heard my mom tell many times . . .
When I was about two, she decided she wanted to get fit/lose some weight and planned to walk every day . . .with me in tow since she was a stay-at-home mom at that point. There were no jogging strollers, so I guess my poor mom just set out to try to exercise as best she could, but got frustrated because I was so slow and wanted to stop and look at every doodle bug, pick up every leaf, pick my nose, etc.
At some point, she gave up on the exercise element and decided to just enjoy being with me.
I love that you and your husband have actually built this kind of time into your family’s week.
Such cute kids, and what a lovely family ritual. Thanks for sharing a the view from 2 ft. off the ground.
This was so sweet! I loved it.
Thanks for posting our story — we do love our little Sunday morning ritual so much! What a lovely site with great features.
What a wonderful tradition and great pictures and narrative. I noticed the clear day with everyone’s jackets and surmise that the weather was perfect for such an excursion.
An aside: as of 3-4 years ago, I have finally discouraged grown daughters from offering me their trash. Careful about making that a tradition, too, Elizabeth !